The present invention relates generally to material handling apparatus, and more particularly to a material handling apparatus which provides for selectively bulk filling or blend filling and concurrently discharging particulate material into a hopper, bin, silo and the like.
A particular application for such material handling apparatus is in the manufacture of cigarettes. In the manufacture of cigarettes, tobacco is processed as by cutting, shredding, grinding and the like into small pieces or particles in preparation for processing into the tobacco rod of a cigarette. Extremely large quantities of tobacco are used in the manufacture of cigarettes, and this tobacco must be processed rapidly through the cigarette manufacturing process. In addition, because the manufacturing process must be adaptable to make cigarettes of different blends or a single blend, the apparatus must be versatile.
Prior known material handling apparatus for conveying and feeding particulate material is known, per se, from the following U.S. Patents.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,184,038 is directed to a material handling apparatus for conveying and feeding particulate material which has a top or first conveyor discharging onto a second or bottom conveyor. The bottom conveyor is pivotally mounted at its upstream end for movement in a horizontal plane.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,435,967 is directed to a material handling system for filling a bin with free flowing material which includes a first conveyor belt which selectively feeds material to one or the other of two other conveyor belts mounted transversely at the opposite ends of the first conveyor belt.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,530,973 is directed to a feed conveying and distributing apparatus for feeding particulate material which includes a first or top stationary conveyor belt feeding material onto a second or bottom shuttle conveyor belt which then feeds the particulate material to a third conveyor located beneath the second conveyor.
Even more particularly, material handling or feed conveyor systems for conveying and feeding tobacco to hoppers, bins, silos and the like are known, per se, from the following patents.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,735,881 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,811,585 disclose essentially the same material handling apparatus for bulk filling and blend filling tobacco into a silo. The material handling apparatus includes a shuttle car movable back-and-forth over the top of the silo and a reversible belt conveyor mounted on the shuttle car having a conveying direction in alignment with the movement of the shuttle car. An index or cross shuttle car is located above the main shuttle car and perpendicular to the silo to feed tobacco to the conveyor belt of the main shuttle car. The cross shuttle car extends beyond the sides of the silo.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,619,576 is directed to a feed system for tobacco blending in bulk bins or silos which include a trolley movable over two side-by-side bins. A first belt conveyor is mounted on the trolley for movement thereon transversely to the movement of the trolley and a feed conveyor is located above the first conveyor at an angle thereto with its discharge end over the first conveyor. The feed conveyor is also mounted for movement transversely to the movement of the trolley as the first conveyor moves to maintain its discharge end over the first conveyor.
The present invention provides a material handling apparatus for selectively bulk filling and blend filling particulate material, such as tobacco, into a hopper, bin, or silo which is an improvement to the described apparatus.